A San Francisco law student has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon and hit-and-run after police said she crashed her car into an innocent bystander while trying to target a group of graffiti taggers who had attacked her in downtown Oakland.

Meghan Anne Zato, 26, of Oakland, a first-year student at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, was free on $90,000 bail Tuesday after allegedly running into James Roda, 25, of Oakland early Saturday.

The incident began about 12:45 a.m., authorities said, after Zato left a bar with a friend and saw a group of people defacing a wall outside the Oakland Public Library near the corner of 14th Street and Lakeside Drive.

After the two told the group to stop, the taggers confronted them, pushing them and grabbing Zato's cell phone so she would be unable to call police, investigators said.

Zato allegedly got into her 1984 Mercedes-Benz, drove a short distance on 14th Street, made a U-turn at Lakeside and crashed into Roda - who police believe was not involved in the vandalism. Roda, who was crossing the street with friends, was hospitalized with major head injuries, authorities said.

Zato left the scene, police said, but witnesses followed her and forced her to stop several blocks away, detaining her until officers arrived.

Zato was "hostile and offensive" and had "a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from her person and mouth, slurred and slow speech, as well as bloodshot, watery and droopy eyes," Oakland police Officer Kristine Jurgens-Duenas wrote in a court affidavit.

Alameda County prosecutors charged Zato on Monday with assault with a deadly weapon, which includes a sentencing enhancement alleging she caused great bodily injury, and hit-and-run, both felonies.

Zato has two speeding convictions on her record, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Her attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

UC Hastings spokesman Alex Shapiro said Tuesday, "While we cannot comment on the conduct or potential status of individual students, UC Hastings does express our concern for all involved. All disciplinary matters are handled in accordance with the student code of conduct."